


Sacrifice

by killerweasel



Series: Sacrifices [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV Series)
Genre: Blood Ritual, Cutting, Human Sacrifice, M/M, Maggot Husbands (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 04:41:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20651369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: "What if I told you there might be a way to get him back?"





	Sacrifice

Title: Sacrifice  
Fandom: Good Omens (TV Series)  
Characters: Crowley/Aziraphale, Hastur/Ligur, Beelzebub, Sandalphon  
Word Count: 1,854  
Rating: R  
A/N: After Episode 6.  
Summary: "What if I told you there might be a way to get him back?"

It was a good thing the Bentley was semi-sentient because when Hastur suddenly appeared in the passenger seat, Crowley went off the road and almost hit a tree. The car parked itself, leaving the engine running. "What the Heaven were you trying to do, Hastur, kill us both?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead, Crowley."

"Why are you here?" It had been months since his trial in Hell and Aziraphale's attempted execution. They hadn't heard a peep out of either side since then.

"It's about Ligur." Hastur's hands shook as he pulled out a cigarette.

"Do not smoke in my car."

"Fine." He tucked the cigarette behind his ear. "You didn't just kill him. You wiped him out of existence. And that trial was a joke. I don't know how you managed to pull that off and I don't care. You owe me."

Crowley was quiet for a moment. "If you'd been in my position, you would have done the same thing."

"I'm not like you, Crowley. None of us are." Hastur sighed, running a hand over his face. "I'm not going to thank you for sending me his things. I honestly thought you would have burned them."

"Aziraphale had to box everything up. I couldn't touch them because they were soaked in Holy Water." He bit his lip. "I keep having nightmares about it. Only it's me instead of Ligur while Aziraphale watches."

"Ligur was my Aziraphale. We'd been together since the Fall." He closed his eyes, turning his head away from Crowley. "It's like a piece of me is missing and I hate it."

"What if I told you there might be a way to get him back?"

Hastur eyed Crowley warily. "Are you having a laugh? It was Holy Water. There's no 'cure' for that."

"Aziraphale has been helping me do some research." Crowley pulled his phone out of his pocket. He hit a few buttons, making a picture appear on the screen. "There's a scroll in the basement of a museum in America. The scroll is beyond ancient. It's been passed from collector to collector for centuries. Now they have it in a drawer. From what we can tell, it details a ritual which might work to bring him back. I can't swear it'll work. But we could try."

"Why would either of you want to help me? I tried to kill you."

"Like you said, I'm not like you lot." Crowley shook his head. "Guilt, I guess. We'd need some heavy hitters involved. Like Archangel levels of energy. It calls for a power from each side, a sacrifice of blood and flesh, something of the 'banished one', and it must be done during the witching hour."

The laugh that escaped Hastur was ugly and made Crowley jerk back. "I can't picture you sacrificing a human, Crowley."  
  
"I never said it was a human sacrifice."

"You?"

"Look at it this way- if this doesn't go right, you still get to cut the living Heaven out of me. I know how good you are with a knife, Hastur. Your skills are legendary." Crowley nudged him with an elbow. "You keep your victims alive for days while you torture them."

"I do like the idea of you bleeding at my feet." Hastur sat back, looking Crowley over. "How soon can you get your hands on that scroll? I assume the symbols we'd need are in it."

"Should have it by next week. It'll be easier than trying to convince an Archangel and Lord Beelzebub to participate." He rubbed his temple. "Sandalphon owes me for saving his angelic ass back in Rome. I'll call in my favor."

"I'll deal with Beelzebub."

"We're doing this?" Crowley held his hand out.

Hastur shook it. "We're going to try." He managed a small smile before vanishing.

\---

Crowley grit his teeth while Hastur carefully carved symbol after symbol into his skin. Blood was flowing down his body towards his bare feet. The knife had been dipped in something Sandalphon provided. It caused the wounds to stay open, restricting the healing process. Crowley was wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else, giving Hastur a larger canvas to work with. Aziraphale had offered to numb Crowley's skin, but apparently pain was a required part of the ritual.

Across the room, Beelzebub and Sandalphon were ignoring one another while looking over copies of the words they needed to recite together. Aziraphale had laid out Ligur's clothing in a circle matching the one Crowley was currently standing in.

"Are you going to be able to get through this, Crowley?" Hastur's voice was soft enough only Crowley could hear him. "I've still got to do a bit on your back and you're starting to shake like one of those little yappy dogs."

"Don't really have a choice." He hissed as the blade of the knife moved to a more tender area. "I said I'd do this and I'm doing it. You're sure I won't discorporate due to blood loss? Hate to go through all this for nothing."

"It's deep enough, but not too deep." The way Hastur moved while cutting was almost like watching a painter work on a new masterpiece. Every movement was careful and calculated. A flick of the wrist here, a twist of his fingers there, and everything was coming together. "You remember back when we Fell? How much it hurt as we tried to breathe with lungs filled with the ash from our burning wings and bodies? How much what was left of our wings ached just from being exposed to the air? The sounds coming from our ruined throats as we begged for it all to end? This is nothing compared to that."

When Hastur finished, he got out of the way, standing over by Aziraphale against the far wall. Aziraphale gave him a look, which he ignored. The Duke focused his gaze on the stained clothing in the circle.

Beelzebub got on one side of Crowley and Sandalphon was on the other. Both of them began to summon tremendous amount of energy. Then they began to chant. Small flashes of lightning, which steadily grew larger and more powerful, struck both circles. As their voices grew louder, all the light in the room vanished until only the lightning could be seen.

A massive bolt of lightning struck Crowley in the back, driving him to his knees while a second bolt hit the pile of Ligur's clothing. Crowley screamed in agony. For a moment the outline of a giant serpent was in the circle instead of the demon. Then Crowley collapsed to the ground. Something seemed to flow from his body into the other circle. As everyone watched, Ligur's clothing began to fill out. There was a final flash of lightning and then the room went totally dark.

Aziraphale snapped his fingers, lighting up the room. He ran to Crowley's side, breaking the circle and kneeling down on the ground by the unconscious demon. The smell of burnt flesh made him gag. “Crowley. Crowley, my dear boy, can you hear me?” Aziraphale shook Crowley’s shoulder gently being mindful of the symbols carved into his flesh. “I need you to wake up.”

“He’s not healing. Why isn’t he healing?” Hastur whirled around, pointing his knife at Sandalphon. “You said he would heal when we finished. We’re finished. Heal him, wank-wings, or so help me...”

"I said 'should' not 'would'." Sandalphon curled up his lip into a snarl. Holy energy was beginning to build up in his palm. Beelzebub got between the Archangel and the Duke, daring either of them to lash out.

“That’zzz enough, Hastur!” The threat of violence buzzed deep in the Prince of Hell’s throat. “I’ll zzzee what I can do. If this doesn’t work, he’s going to have to heal himself if he wakes up.”

“If?” Aziraphale’s hands clenched into fists. “What do you mean by that?”

“No one hazzz done anything like this before.” They looked over at the still form. “Crowley knew the risks he wazzz taking when he decided to participate, Aziraphale. If he doesn’t wake up in the next forty-eight hours, you should discorporate him. I swear on Satan Himself he will be given a new corporation afterwards.”

“When he wakes, tell him we’re even now.” Sandalphon vanished with a snap of his fingers.

“Hastur?” Ligur’s voice was hoarse. “Where are we? How’d I get here? Last I remember, we were going through Crowley’s door.” The demon sat up slowly, clutching his head. He spotted Crowley on the floor. “What in Heaven’s name happened to him?”

“Ligur.” Hastur’s knife fell from his fingers. He brought his hand up to his mouth, biting into the flesh of his palm until it began to bleed. “I never thought I’d see you again.” He crossed the room quickly, dropping to his knees beside Ligur. He wrapped his arms around the other demon, pulling him close. “You were gone. It was Holy Water. He fixed it.”

“Holy Water?” Ligur’s eyes went through a series of color changes which matched the chameleon on his head. “But that’s impossible. No one comes back from that.”

“You did, Ligur. You're the first.” Hastur rested his forehead against Ligur’s. “There’s a ritual Crowley found with the help of his angel. It called for a sacrifice of blood and flesh. Had to carve everything into his skin myself. No one else is as good with a knife. Wasn’t quite the pound of flesh I wanted, but it’ll do.”

“Everyone zzzhut up. I’m trying to heal him and I need to concentrate.” Beelzebub rested one hand on Crowley’s head and another above his heart. Demonic energy crackled and filled the room.

The blood dripping from the symbols slowed to a trickle before ceasing completely. The wounds on Crowley's body knit themselves closed. Angry skin became unblemished. Crowley's eyes popped open as he gasped, jerking away from Beelzebub and looking around wildly. He clutched at his back, rubbing his fingers over the place where the lightning had struck. His eyes fluttered closed again while he breathed deeply. "Did it work?"

"Zzzee for yourself."

With Aziraphale's help, Crowley sat up. He looked across the room at Hastur and Ligur. The two were sitting side by side, with Hastur resting his head on Ligur's shoulder. Ligur had an arm around Hastur's waist and was whispering things into his ear. Whatever he was saying put a huge smile on the Duke's face.

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen Hastur really be happy, angel." When he turned to thank Beelzebub for healing him, the Prince had vanished. "Take us home, angel. I feel like I'm halfway to snake right now and I don't know how long I can stay in the form."

"Don't you want to say goodbye to them?" Aziraphale's hand closed around Crowley's wrist tightly. He could feel the demon shaking under his grip.

"Nah." Crowley's eyes met Hastur's for a moment. The Duke gave him a slight nod. "If they want to talk, Hastur knows where we live. They've got some catching up to do."


End file.
